Many corporate computer networks carry management traffic as well as ordinary business traffic. For example, the network may include one or more management nodes which communicate with various managed objects for the purpose of collecting management data from the objects, such as the status of the object. Many network administrators would consider a volume of management traffic exceeding 5% of the total network traffic to be an inefficient use of the network, and maintaining management traffic at no more than 2–3% of total network traffic is preferable.
Many conventional computer networks control management traffic by polling each of the managed objects at regular intervals. Upon receiving the polling message from the management node, each of the managed objects sends a response to the management node with the requested data. Other networks are configured such that the management objects initiate data messages at regular intervals. In that case, the management node returns an acknowledgment message to each of the managed objects upon receiving the data message. Accordingly, the exchange of management data in conventional computer networks usually occurs at regular intervals and typically involves bilateral communication between the management node and the managed objects.
In corporate computer networks, the ordinary business traffic (i.e., non-management traffic) oftentimes follows a predictable pattern. For example, traffic is relatively high starting around 9:00 a.m. and may taper off slightly over the lunch hour. Then, during the afternoon, network traffic is again relatively high. By 5:00 p.m. or so, network traffic starts to drop off dramatically and remains extremely low until about 8:00 a.m. the next business day.
By contrast, management traffic on a corporate computer network may or may not follow any pattern. One problem with conventional computer networks is that non-critical, management traffic takes place at the same time the network is experiencing peak business traffic. Moreover, spikes in management traffic sometimes occur when a management node simultaneously issues polling messages to multiple management objects or when a plurality of managed objects respond to the management node at about the same time. It is not uncommon in a conventional computer network for spikes in management traffic to occur during peak periods of business traffic, especially where polling occurs at regular intervals. When spikes in management traffic coincide with peaks in business traffic, it is likely that the overall network traffic will be excessive and cause all network communications to be degraded. In some networks, signs of degradation may occur when overall traffic is as low as 65% of the network capacity.
Thus, there is a need for a computer network in which the occurrence of management traffic spikes during peak traffic periods is reduced or eliminated. There is also a need for a computer network in which the volume of management traffic is minimized by reducing or eliminating the requirement for bilateral communication between a management node and a plurality of managed objects.